Alexandria, VA - Caphe Bahn Mi; Its exciting to see a name of a shop dedicated to bahn mi. The question is, will it meet those expectations of crispy bread, flavorful pate, fresh vegetables and herbs, and spicy to delivery heat without over powering the palette?

Nice delivery on one, and mediocre on the other. The Classic should deliver all these expectations, right? Its the Classic. If I never had a bahn mi sandwich, it should have all these elements to try a traditional one to have a point of comparison. I tried this one and it unfortunately was the mediocre sandwich. It did have crispy bread, average pate but not enough. The flavor was lost with the other elements. Once again, had fresh carrots, cucumbers, and cilantro, not enough, especially of the cilantro. It lacked the traditional aromatics the cilantro brings.

The vegan bahn mi was better in flavor than the classic. This isn't the first time a vegetarian option beat the meat, but I was pleasantly surprised. It had more of the distinctive flavors it needed than the Classic. Both sandwiches came with fresh delicious jalapenos to give it some heat. Nice heat.

If I had to choose between the two again, I would go with the Vegan Bahn Mi.